Fifth Estate

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For other uses, see Fifth Estate (disambiguation).

Fifth Estate is any class or group in society other than the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), the commoners (Third Estate), and the press (Fourth Estate).^[1] It has been used to describe trade unions, the poor and organized crime. It can also be used to describe media that sees itself in opposition to mainstream (Fourth Estate) media. The term is different in origins and meaning from "Fifth Column," used to describe subversive or insurgent elements in a society.

Nimmo and Combs assert that political pundits constitute a Fifth Estate.^[2] Media researcher Stephen D. Cooper argues that bloggers are the Fifth Estate.^[3] The American periodical Broadcasting once proudly proclaimed itself to be "The Fifth Estate" on its cover.^[4] The Michigan Daily published a letter to the editor by Michael Kozlowski arguing that the concept behind the CNN YouTube presidential debates should be expanded to allow citizens to directly challenge the President and other elected officials on national cable news networks such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.^[5]

"The Fifth Estate" newspaper began in 1965 as an alternative bi-weekly publication of left-wing politics and the arts in Detroit, Michigan, as part of the so-called Underground Press movement of oppositional papers. It continues publishing today with editorial collectives in Detroit, Liberty, Tennessee, New York City, and Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Its usage of the term was the first in the modern era and the editors have attempted to discourage other media outlets from adopting the name, but to no avail. Fifth Estate (periodical).

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation airs a newsmagazine called "the fifth estate" on its English language television network. The name was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into original journalism.

[edit] References

^ Random House Dictionary
^ Dan D. Nimmo and James E. Combs (1992). The Political Pundits, Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 20. ISBN 0275935450.
^ Stephen D Cooper (2006). Watching the Watchdog: Bloggers as the Fifth Estate, Marquette Books. ISBN 0922993475.
^ Asa Briggs and Peter Burke (2005). A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet, Polity. pp. 154. ISBN 0745635113.
^ "Bring 'YouTube' democracy to the air"